Stay with me (Carl Grimes)
by Blahblahblah43
Summary: Stay. stā/ Verb 1. Remain in the same place. Carl comes back and sits down beside me, as I lean against a tree trunk in the warm air. The sun is shining bright and it instantly warms my skin as soon as it comes in contact. I let out a sigh when Rick calls Carl's name. As soon as he gets up to leave I reach for his hand pulling him back. "Stay with me, please." I say.
1. Chapter 1

Stay with me.

**Alex's Pov.**

I took my chances and stumbled along with my older brother through the surrounding woods. Tree after tree, walker after walker. He was very protective of me, it took him a while to become comfortable with the fact that I can defend myself physically, but he is still very protective of me when we find other people. He doesn't trust anyone with my life, no. He doesn't even trust them to be alone with me, he'll allow it but he doesn't like it.

We stumble upon a group of three travelers. There is a grown man, with a lot of scruffy facial hair and curly brown hair that was pushed back. Once we got closer I noticed that he has bright blue eyes. There was also a woman, who had long dreadlocks, and carried a katana. She had a tired serious look on her face, and she stood with a young boy, who had a brown sheriff's hat and shaggy brown hair. He also has the same kind of eyes the grown man has, bright and blue.

The boy put his hand on his pistol that was in his belt. His fingers wrapped around the gun, and the woman stood in front of him. The woman started to draw her katana, and the grown man scratched his chin, and grabbed his gray metallic pistol and pointed it in my direction. His eyebrows were close to kitting together, but I held my ground. I grazed my hand over my dual blades and gripped the handle, as my brother, Zach, pushed me slightly behind him as his tall frame stood in front of me blocking my vision. I hate when he does that, I'm old enough to protect myself from danger. His hand held his black shotgun and put his other hand up.

"We come in peace," The grown man says after a moment of silence. He lowers his gun and puts it in his belt, and the woman puts her katana back in it's sheaf. Her hand still kept the younger lad behind her body, not trusting me or Zach. I don't blame her though, if I had a son, I'd do the same thing.

"Who are you?" My brother asks looking at them and they all exchange looks and the grown man clears his throat. He nods to the woman and she lets the boy out of her grip and he comes out and stands next to her with his hand grazed over his gun. Again I don't blame him, these days you can't trust just anyone.

"I'm Rick, this is Michonne, and my son Carl." He says introducing their little group. My brother nods and I try and walk out, but his arm stops me.

"Zach chill, I can protect myself." I tell him and he sighs and lets me go. I stand beside him and I wait for him to tell them our names, but he doesn't. I speak up and introduce Zach and I to Rick, Michonne, and Carl.

"I'm Alex, this is my brother Zach." Zach turns to me and gives me a dirty look and I nudge him and give him a look.

"Nice to know there's actual people left, it's been a while since we've seen new faces." Rick says and we all agree, and I hear faint noises rustling the bushes, and snapping of twigs, and so I graze my hand over my dual blades. I pull them both out, and scan the surrounding area. My head flicks in the direction of my brother and I see walkers coming towards us. I turn and look for Rick, Michonne, and Carl but I cannot find them. My heart speeds up and I stand back to back with my brother and wait for the dead to come at me so I can stab them all in the skull, so their lifeless bodies and thud and fall to the ground where they belong.

One comes towards me and I slash my blade across it's arm, and it falls to the ground, so I cannot get scratched. I kick it to the ground and stab another before it returns. I stab the next walker, and it falls to the ground. The other one is up now, coming towards me and I stab it through the eyeball and blood spits in my face. Once it's body makes a thud on the ground, I raise my tanned arm to wipe the blood off my face, and I see three more coming my way. Zach is killing them too, but not as efficiently. I take out my anger on the three coming my way, and I stab them roughly, and repeatedly, and more blood squirts all over me. Once all the walkers have been cleared, I face Zach and we lock eye contact for a couple seconds and then we scan the surroundings.

Why would Rick and his companions just flee at the sight of walkers? How could they be alive this long if they are too scared to fight?

"Where did they go?" I ask and he shrugs and tells me to be quiet. He holds his pistol out in front of him as he walks slowly making sure the area is clear.

We have been walking for hours and we finally return home, to our huge ranch. We closed it off before this shit hole of a disease started, with big tall sturdy planks of wood, and we covered that in chain links later. We open the gate and latch it shut with three locks and a big chain. We run up to the pasture and see our horses are sleeping in the warm sun of Georgia. We feed and water them, and return to the house.

"Zach why did they just run off like that?" I ask, being greatly confused. It would be nice to have more people around, especially since we've been alone and isolated since our family's passing.

"I don't know," He says confused also. He pauses and tells me to come over to him and we share a hug. "That's why we don't depend on people." He says and we let go. "They just let you down in the end." He says and pats my back.

As soon as I was about to speak when he chuckles a little, and we continue to walking from the pasture to the house.

"Except for me of course," He says lightening the mood. We walk into the kitchen and then there's a loud knocking sound. Zach and I panic because it will attract walkers, so we both sprint to the gate and open it to see familiar faces, and new faces.

"Rick, Michonne, and Carl?" I ask and they nod. Did they bring their friends? Or did they meet new people on the way here?

"Step in, come on. Before the walkers catch up with you." I say and when they are all in, I latch the big wooden gate shut, and place the chain and three locks. Zach is walking up the pathway with Rick and his group when I finish, but my long legs allow me to catch up within seconds. I decide to take out my makeshift ponytail holder I made from my hair and let the slight breeze flow through my wavy black hair. My short shorts that have holes in them here and there are dusty but fit me well. My baggy tank-top is blowing through the wind as we approach the house in silence.

"Why'd you guys take off?" Is the first thing that came to mind as everyone is in the house. Rick sighs and runs a hand though his curly hair and scratches his chin, paces back and forth before he finally answers.

"There were too many walkers, how did you two kill all of them?" Rick says looking at me and Zach. Well lets see, you stab it in the head, and it dies. Simple. Easy. There weren't too many, too many is hundreds at once.

"There was only around twenty, that's not that much Rick." I remark and Michonne gives me a glare. I decide to change the subject to another thing that wouldn't upset anyone.

"Why don't you introduce us to your friends here," I say and Rick nods respectively. He points his finger to a tall man with longer brown hair like Carl's with smaller eyes and much older than Carl. He looks tough, like he's the baddie of the group. He carries a crossbow, and is dressed in a leather vest with angel wings on the back and a t shirt underneath and ripped jeans and leather boots.

"This here is Daryl, he mostly uses the crossbow courtesy of noise, and supply of ammo. He hunts for our food, and is my best friend, he's like my brother. He means well." Rick finishes and Daryl nods to both of us and he moves on to a Asian looking man. He is much younger than Daryl by the looks of it, and is holding hands with a girl who stands beside him. He is dressed in a simple t-shirt and jeans with boots.

"This is Glenn, he's married to Maggie. Glenn is also like my brother and he is very accepting once he gets to know you. He's loyal, and tries to do the best for the group. He's usually who volunteers to go on runs." He gestures to the man named Glenn and he holds a small smile, and looks friendly.

"I'm Maggie. I'm willing to do anything to help keep up here, I can do laundry, cook, keep watch. Whatever you need. I hope we can become great friends later on. You two seem lovely." Maggie sweetly says and Glenn's smile only grows as he looks at his wife Maggie and kisses her cheek.

Rick introduces the rest of the group, and we introduce ourselves to the rest of the people. I ask Maggie to help Sasha with the meal. She gladly accepts and heads to the kitchen and I ask Glenn and Daryl to keep watch from the tree houses near the fences, and told them that if they need anything to whistle to their partner. They run out of the house and go to their assigned posts, and I'm left with Zach, myself, Rick, Michonne, and Carl.

"Look we never said you all could stay here," Zach rudely says and I turn to him and slap him on the arm and glare at him. He mouths a 'what?' and I shake my head looking back to the rest of our guests.

"You and your group are welcome to stay, as long as you need. It would be nice to have some help around here and to have more people here. Really, make yourselves at home." I say and smile.

"Thank you. We were looking for somewhere to stay when we found you both. We thought you didn't have a camp, so we just went on our way, we're sorry about that. You can trust us, and we'll do our share of work." Rick says and pats Carl's hat and he smiles.

_He's attractive._

My mind says and honestly I have no regrets about it admitting it. He can't be much younger than me, and he is cute. It's normal for girls to have crushes on boys, no matter if the world is a shit heap during the zombie apocalypse, or if it's normal society. Carl seems like a interesting person, but I know nothing about him. Except that he's a tough boy, but I'd like to get to know him and his group more personally.

"Here, I'll show you all of your rooms," I say and they nod and follow me up the stairs. We reach the top and on the right is a guest bedroom that is fairly big with a double bed and a few nessicary things like a closet and dresser along with a attached bathroom. We decide that Glenn and Maggie will be sharing that one, and move on to the next one down the hall, and Rick says Daryl would like that one. We move to the next available room passing Zach's and Rick says that Sasha will take that one. We move on and Michonne takes the next. The next room is a bigger room with a single bed and a attached bathroom and Rick takes that one. We pass my room, and the one on the left of mine is the one that Carl takes. They all go in and un pack their things and Zach calls me over to him.

"I don't trust them," He says and I scoff, not surprised. He always does this, acts rude on purpose, and always says he doesn't trust them in hopes of people will leave.

"You always say that. They are good people Zach." I say and I move to exit the room but he pulls my wrist.

"I don't trust them Alex. I mean it, do not be alone with anyone of them without me around." He says and I roll my eyes and shake it off. He'll get over the fact that sooner or later I will be alone with one of them and he'll just have to accept it. I go into my room and open the window and let the cool breeze in and my curtains slightly jump up, and move with the air.

"Thanks, I don't think I ever thanked you. Alex right?" Carl says walking in my room and I smile at him. He smiles too and I look back out the window and begin to talk.

"No problem, I hope you have everything you need." I say and he smiles wider. He sits on my queen bed that is a short distance from my window sill.

"How can you manage to be so kind to strangers during...this?" He asks and I shrug. I push back a piece of hair behind my ear because it was irritating my eye.

"I guess I could tell that you and your group are good people. If I have a bad feeling about a group I'm usually not kind to them." I say lightly laughing and he chuckles a little.

_Nice laugh that boy has, huh Alex?_

My mind reminds myself and I can't help but feel butterflies starting to form in my stomach. I look away from the window and catch his eyes on me, and right then my cheeks slightly flush a pink and my stomach flutters as he shyly looks away.

"I'll catch you around?" Carl says getting up from the bed and I nod smiling. He returns the smile and he walks out.

Later on Maggie and Sasha call everyone in for the meal. When I come downstairs I hear walkers and I run to the tree house and use binoculars. There are just a few who are crowding the north corner and if I don't do anything about it they will attract more of them because of the noise. I run back to the house to tell Zach that I am going to take care of the few strayed walkers by the north corner.

"I'll come with you," Carl says getting out of his chair. He grabs his pistol from his belt and Zach gets up.

"No you won't," He says and I give him a glare and he gives in and sits back down. When Carl and I are out of the gate theres a handful of walkers that are by the fence. I latch it shut and we approach them, and I pull out my dual blades. I kill the first couple and when I turn my head one is charging towards me, and just as I thought my life eas going to end, it falls to the ground, and it reveals Carl standing with his gun pointed in my direction. Another walker is coming towards Carl extremely fast, so I charged over to him and stabbed it in the head, and it fell to the ground lifeless, and Carl looked into my hazel eyes as soon as I stepped back. I took a deep breath, and so did he, and I drag the bodies into a ditch a little bit away from the fence that is fairly deep and as I walk back with Carl I catch him staring again. I can't help but wonder, what does he think of me?

"How old are you?" I hear him ask and I slightly chuckle. I look over at him and we both enter the gate, and I latch it shut with the locks and chain. We make our way back to the house and we are halfway there.

"I'm fifteen and a half. I turn 16 in four months," I say and he nods. I look back over to him, and study his face for a couple seconds, and enjoy the moment.

"You?" I say and he smiles and looks at me, and replies with his answer as we are almost to the front porch.

"Fifteen, I turned fifteen four months ago," He says and I nod. We walk back into the house, to see a half empty dinner table and hear faint yelling voices. I groan and so does Carl, and when I fully see what's happening I jump in panic and rush over to the two people who are bickering.

"Stop!" I yell frustraited. Can't we just have a day free of stress or worry?

**HIIII. So I hope you like chapter one, and I will try and update as much as possible. I'd rather make decently long chapters than shorter ones, so bare with me! I came up with this on my own, so before you tell me I stole something from someone, I didn't lol. So yeahhhh. I hope you guys like my storyyy and yeah please review because I'd love to know what you think! :)**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two.

**Alex's Pov.**

When I walk over to the chaotic brawl, I am even more infuriated. I pull my brother off of Glenn, who is slightly hurt. I help Glenn up, and Maggie rushes to him, as we walk to the bathroom. I leave Maggie to clean him up with a washrag and walk back out into the dinning room.

"What happened?" I ask angrily. It's pretty sad that I'm almost 16 and I have to be the adult here, fucking Zach. Zach is sitting in the arm chair in the living room and gets up to come over to us. He has a scowl on his face and I want to slap him.

"I'm sorry about my brother's poor actions. He means well." I say nodding to Rick and Daryl, and Rick nods his head understandingly. Daryl scoffs and sits down angrily in the chair beside Rick. When Maggie and Glenn return, we see that my brother hasn't done hardly any damage, just a few cuts here and there. I remember to pull my brother aside, and have a stern talk with him.

"Eat, please. I am going to talk with Zach for a minute," I say and they all nod and start to tear apart their food. I smile and push Zach into the closed off kitchen.

"What is with you?!" I say and lean against the counter. My voice is stern and by the hard look on my face you can tell I am angry at him, for his actions and attitude towards the new quests, he's being a complete asshole. And for a host, he's shit at it.

"What do you mean what's with me? Don't tell me you are siding with them just because of that boy," He rudely spits and I feel a pang of hurt whip at my heart, he's never said anything like that to me before. Never.

"Don't you see how childish you are acting? If anything, our roles should be reversed!" I slightly yell and I feel as though there is a vein popping out of my forehead. I cross my arms and sigh, pushing back a hair that was straying in front of my face.

"Don't you dare talk to me like that," Zach spats, making me even more angry. I need to vent, to let go of all my bottled up anger towards him, I need an outlet, or I will end up putting him in his place and that will not look good.

"Zach," I sigh and he laughs sarcastically. I rub my temples and forehead, and begin to tap my hands against my arms, trying to keep my sanity under control, but with my idiot of a brother it seems as if it's completely insane.

"What, huh Alex? What are you going to do? Yell in my face and hope to change my opinions?" He says and scoffs, making my anger sky rocket. He's pushed it this time, he's done it. I don't know if anyone has heard our conversation yet, but they are about to.

"Zach really! You can't even tell you are being a huge dick right now! Just stop! Stop giving me all the shit to deal with! I love you to pieces but you are making it harder when all you do is act like a fool and a jerk. What happened to my older brother that loved me and didn't want anything to happen to me? Who'd do anything to make me happy, who'd always try his best to be on his best behavior for me? Where did he go?" I roar taking a deep breath, and letting a few hot tears stream down my face. I wipe them away as soon as he brings up his thumb to do the job, and he tries to come towards me.

"Don't even Zach! I'm tired of your bullshit! Maybe you should take you own advice, all people do is hurt you in the end anyways." I say and more tears escape my eyes. I try and wipe the salty tears away but more keep falling. My cheeks slightly burn as I rub my eyes, and take in deep breaths.

"Look Alex, I'm sorry-" He says and I put my finger up, in the air signaling for him to stop talking. I can't deal with his shit right now, I cannot handle being the head of the house worrying about everything at such a young age and worry about what kind of mischief Zach will throw himself into. I just can't.

"Just stop. Maybe I wouldn't be so stressed and could tolerate your crap if you actually stood up and took on the position you are supposed to of being the head of the house instead of forcing me to fill it!" I shout and run out of the kitchen passed the dining table and up the stairs into my room. I open and shut my door behind me, and immediately sit on my window sill, staring off into the surrounding forests.

After what seems like hours, I hear a knock at the door and I see Daryl? Why is he up here? I thought he didn't like me.

"You okay kid?" He says sitting near the spot Carl sat on my bed. I sniffle and nod. I tuck a piece of hair behind my ear and Daryl gets up and sits beside me. I still look out the window and he puts his hand on my knee, and I finally face him.

"We've already got something in common, we both really dislike your brother," He chuckles. I slightly laugh along, and I hear another knock. He pats my knee twice and smiles at me as he leaves, and I catch a glimpse of the visitor outside my room, and I see a brown sheriff hat.

I smile and my mood is suddenly lifted. It's almost the sunset now, and when Carl sits next to me on the window sill my heart beat quickens like before.

"Are you okay?" He asks and I nod slightly, sniffling. He smiles lightly at my reaction and we sit in peaceful silence. I lead him out to the swing by the edge of the property, and I sit slowly swinging on the swing with wind blowing through my hair. He sits against the tree trunk and messes with a twig. For a moment, just a moment life seems almost _normal_. My heart is on fire and my stomach is under attack by butterflies every second I'm with Carl, and I continue to enjoy the moment.

"Tell me about yourself," I say smiling. He nods and continues to mess with his twig while he explaining his life in a more shortened version. I laugh at the little details he mentions about how him and his dad Rick used to go out for ice cream on Saturday mornings, by themselves, and just walk, talk, and eat their ice cream cones in the peaceful moments of the weekend mornings. He smiled each time mentioning things him and his family used to do, and it seems we are outside for hours. We talk for a really long time, and it's dark now, but we keep our voices to a minimum.

**Daryl's Pov.**

Carl and Alex have been outside for quite some time now, how do we even know if they are okay?

"Rick," I say tapping his shoulder. He looks up from the ground, and looks at me running a hand through his brown curly hair.

"Yeah," He says sounding stressed. I hate to put him in this position, but it's part of being a leader, taking sacrifices for your group.

"Shouldn't Carl and Alex have came in a while ago? It's starting to get really late and they need rest for their chores tomorrow." I say and he nods walking over to the window opening the curtain to look and try and find Carl and Alex.

"Go get em, they're down the yard a ways." Rick says and I nod grabbing my crossbow and exiting the house. I quietly make my way down the yard, keeping my eye out for any walkers that might have found a way in the secured area. I come closer to the two kids and I find them sitting together peacefully under the tree, staring into the sky that is full of stars, holding hands. _Holding hands._

I cough, and clear my throat and wait a couple seconds to show myself. "Hey, uh Rick wants y'all inside now. Said it's too late for y'all to be out." I quickly say. They nod and disconnect fingers and break all contact standing to their feet. Alex scurries ahead of Carl and I. We walk in peace, back to the house and before we enter the house, I put my hand on Carl's shoulder.

"Look Carl," I start and he scowls and shoves my hand off his shoulder.

"If you are trying to tell me that you're disappointed in me for holding hands with her, just be quiet man. I don't want to hear it." He says and tries to go inside but I pull his shirt roughly, pulling his taller more muscular body back.

"No, I was just going to tell you that I'm not going to tell your ol' man about what I saw back there. I'll keep it between us, okay kid?" I say and pat his head as he nods holding a small smile. I return the small gesture as we enter the house. I set my crossbow down beside the door once it's shut and locked.

**Alex's Pov.**

_The Next Day_

I wake up to the sun peeking through my curtains, making my face warm. The feeling is soothing, and relaxing, something I haven't felt in a long time. I finally open my eyes and stretch my arms out and yawn, waking up. I get out of bed and change into fresh clothes, then tie my curly mess up into a ponytail. Shorter strands of curly black hair stray out and blow in the wind as I walk down the stairs to smell oatmeal.

I walk down the stairs to see Rick, Daryl, Michonne, Sasha, Bob, Tyreece, Carol, Beth, Glenn, Maggie, and Judith at the table, no Carl. Maggie has Judith in a baby chair that is tall enough to reach the table beside her, and is feeding her small bits of oatmeal. My heart races when I realize Zach is missing also. I rub my eyes and when I open them I hear the front door slam shut. I see a tired asshole walk through the hallway and I instantly pull my middle finger up at him, and leave it up, hoping he gets the message that I still am angry at him. He rolls his eyes and pulls up a chair beside Beth and tries to strike up an conversation with her but within the next five seconds Daryl orders that Zach and him switch chairs, and him being a nice person that he once was gets up with no questions and goes to Daryl's place but winks at her on the way there. After about two minutes, Rick asks a question sounding angry.

"Where's Carl?" He says angrily. He has a scowl on his face and doesn't let his bright blue eyes leave my brother's tall figure. I have an uneasy feeling in my stomach and I run upstairs grabbing my weapon belt. I put on my boots and rush back downstairs. When I come back down Rick is rushing to get his proper weaponry and attire on.

"Where is he?" I ask sounding panicked, frantic, and worried. Rick motions for me to come along and Zach is out of his chair grabbing my body. I struggle to get out of his tight grip, but finally win and run out of the house with Rick in the direction of the massive gate. Zach didn't, did he? Fuck.

"Where is he Rick?" I shout as we are running and he pulls out his gun and looks at me.

"Your brother decided to leave him stranded in the woods while they were hunting for lunch. Bastard." He spits and I can't help but agree with him. I also can't help but think of all the possible things that could have already happened to Carl..

"Oh my god," I gasp and can't help but worry. _He's a hard kid, Alex. _Don't_ worry too much. He'll be alright, he's Carl Grimes for crimes sake. _My subconscious self reminds me and it eases the worry just a little, taking away the urge to throw up because I'm afraid of so many possibilities.

"He's tough, he's grown up during this time, he-he he'll be okay. Right?" I ask Rick looking at him while I hold my blades in my hand as we scope the forest for Carl. I hear walkers and their scratchy moans, and all of a sudden they stop. I shake myself out of the dazed faze I was in and I see Rick frantically trying to get my attention. I bite my cheek and nod to him, telling him that I'll help him kill the walkers without shooting.

There's about a dozen circling us, when I tell Rick to shop their arms off the best he could, so we could prevent from getting scratched, it would buy us time to kill them instead of having to wonder if we'll get scratched. He uses the knife that he pulled out of his leather belt. Once majority of their limbs are taken off, I swipe my blade across my hand wiping off the blood, and I go to work quickly. I am always watching my surroundings and Rick's back, and he is watching mine.

I grab a walker by the shoulder, and it tries to bite my face, but I shove my sharp blade into it's skull and twist it to the right slightly to pull it out. I quickly shift to the next victim and shove my knife into it's head, and I see one going for Rick. I use my free hand and pivot my body and stab it in the skull. I pull my blade out and it falls to the ground. I pivot back, and kill two at the same time slamming my blades into their decayed heads, and they spit blood all over my clothing. I mentally flip them off and kill the last walker on my side.

I turn to face Rick and I see him wiping blood off his face and onto the hem of his shirt, and we continue to walk. It seems like we are walking for hours, because my feet begin to ache and it's gotten hotter, so the afternoon heat has hit. It becomes very humid and harder to breathe than usual, but neither of us dare to complain about our conditions, because _we're alive._

We've been thirsty and hungry for a long time now, and we finally find a fresh running river. I mentally thank the heavens for putting this in our path, and I run towards it, and kneel beside it and taking in the cool temperature the stream has by tracing my finger through the water's surface. There's small fish swimming around and that's the sign you look for, if there's fish that means it's healthy enough to drink and no walker has infected it.

"I think we'd better head back Alex." Rick says and I shake my head. He looks greatly confused and I face him and look into the same bright blue eyes that Carl has.

"We can't just give up, he's out there Rick. He is, we just have to find him. I won't be able to sleep knowing one of our own is lost, _by themselves,_ in the woods, at night. He can't be dead, he can't!" I whisper yell, and I feel arms wrapping around my frame and I'm being pulled in the direction of Rick, and I can't help but think what actually happened between my brother and Carl. The thought infuriates me, that my own brother would do that to someone, someone who was completely innocent, someone I cared about.

"I want to find him just as much as you do, but what if he went back, and even if we didn't we could try and go back and get a accurate spot where your asshole of a brother left my son." He says finishing with talking through his teeth, tightening his jaw.

_God what could have happened to Carl, and what made my brother leave him in desperate measures? Had Carl taunted him, had Carl done something wrong? Or was it my brother's fault? Had my brother said something that pissed him off enough to talk back to him, or flee? What if something bad happened to Carl, what if he was bitten?_

**SOOOOO HIIIIIIII. Yeah I hope this was good enough for ya ;). I left a cliffhanger oooooooo. Soooo yeah I hope you liked this and I hope that you follow or favorite the story. Alssssooooo, if you would ever be so kind to leave a review of your thoughts, I WOULD LOVE YOU TO PIECES. So yah favorite, follow, and review :) New chapter should be in a few days but I'm not sure. I have school off tomorrow so who knows. I LOVE YOU ALL OKAY BYEE**


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